Texas has seen the future of the public library, and it looks a lot like an Apple Store [...].
Even the librarians imitate Apple’s dress code, wearing matching shirts and that standard-bearer of geek-chic, the hoodie. But this $2.3 million library might be most notable for what it does not have — any actual books.
That makes Bexar County’s BiblioTech the nation’s only bookless public library.
— washingtonpost.com
[...] what if the design of a house allows it to grow and change in conjunction with the needs of its occupants? The UK’s Lifetime Homes Standards encourage precisely such a principle, setting out a list of guidelines that have been adopted into the building regulations. The focus is on design features that make the home flexible enough to meet whatever comes along in life: a teenager with a broken leg, a grandfather with a serious illness, or parents dealing with an unwieldy Bugaboo. — telegraph.co.uk
Our Europan 12 featured entry for today is "Sprouting City Blocks" by KATOxVictoria, a Copenhagen-based design office founded in 2011 by architects Hiroshi Kato and Victoria Diemer Bennetzen.
Designed for the Vesterbro district in the competition's Copenhagen site, KATOxVictoria's entry won the runner-up award in the latest Europan Denmark.
— bustler.net
Here's a preview of "Sprouting City Blocks": Images courtesy of KATOxVictoria. Click the thumbnails below for more images. More project details on Bustler. View full entry
If you still remember our Out of Hand: Materializing the Postdigital book giveaway last month, we're finally announcing the five winners!Nick C. - New Orleans, LAChristopher A. - Chicago, ILMartin C. - Los Angeles, CAMark V. - Brooklyn, NYNate O. - Iowa City, IA Edited by Museum of Arts... View full entry
For a few years I’ve thought about how one might design a game where the architecture was the central character. I’m particularly fond of temples, palaces, mosques, monasteries and other buildings which combine exquisite artistry with a potential for exploration and mystery. The main problem was how to make an interactive experience out of this. — thefoxisblack.com
![Figure 1: [CONTAINED] - Board 1](https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/as/as3y4gv3gr6gxlow.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=514 "Figure 1: [CONTAINED] - Board 1")
Here's our latest feature from the ONE Prize 2013: Stormproof competition, wherein participants had to propose smartly designed resilient cities prepared to face the challenges of severe climate conditions. — bustler.net
Specifically designed for New York City's coast, [CONTAINED] by Ishaan Kumar, Arianna Armelli, and David Sepulveda was a finalist entry in the international competition. Here's a preview of their proposal: For full project details, head over to Bustler. More images can be found in the the... View full entry
The Huijin International Center designed by architecture/engineering firm LEO A DALY was recently honored with the Luban Award, China's prestigious prize for design and construction.
Since 1989, the biennial Luban Award acknowledges architecture and engineering firms that produce high-quality work and maintain strong quality control and project management.
— bustler.net
"The 30-story, 52,000-square-meter tower, which is located in the coastal city of Xiamen, serves as the headquarters for Septwolves Holding Company, a publicly traded holding company with more than 4,000 fashion stores in China. LEO A DALY designed the tower and interiors to express the culture... View full entry
A German architect accused of improperly installing a fireplace in his Hollywood Hills mansion, leading to a firefighter’s death in February 2011, is expected to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter Friday. — LA Times
Architect, Gerhard Becker, is accused of involuntary manslaughter in Los Angeles in the death of a firefighter in February 2011. He is expected to plead "no contest" and serve a 6 month long sentence. Becker was accused of constructing fireplaces in a 12,000 square foot residence in the Hollywood... View full entry
Conceived as low-cost, mass-produced shelters that could comfortably accommodate a family of four, the units, known as D.D.U.s, were manufactured in the early 1940s and distributed to military bases around the world. [...]
Several institutions and individuals have expressed interest in acquiring Camp Evans D.D.U.s. “They’re important artifacts,” said Marc Greuther, chief curator of the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich., who hopes to exhibit one of the units with Fuller’s Wichita House.
— New York Times
For the next year, UCLA Architecture and Urban Design professor Craig Hodgetts and his graduate students will join forces with private and university physicists and engineers at UCLA's cross-disciplinary IDEAS facility in Playa Vista...
Hodgetts, who oversaw the acoustical redesign of the Hollywood Bowl, insists Musk's plan is doable.
— laweekly.com
Yutaka Sho has been working on housing redevelopment strategies in Rwanda since 2008, and from the beginning the challenges were clear. Building materials were severely limited and ripple effects from the 1994 genocide were still strong, leaving Rwandan society displaced and disproportionately... View full entry
South Australia's Office for Design and Architecture hosted the Royal Adelaide Hospital Design Competition in a process to redesign the historic Royal Adelaide Hospital site, which will be vacated by 2016.
The jury awarded one First Prize and a joint Second Prize. Thousands of public voters picked a People's Choice Award, and a Students Competition winner was also awarded.
— bustler.net
Designs from the competition will formulate the site's strategic framework and masterplan. Here's a glimpse of the three prize-winning proposals (videos included below):First prize: SLASH with Phillips/Pilkington ArchitectsSecond prize and People's Choice Award: NICE Architects with Mulloway... View full entry
Turn Me On Design recently won a competition launched in 2012 by Avenue Mont-Royal with IDEA-O-RAMA—their comic book inspired street lamps that help give the street a bite of personality [...]
The lights are meant to induce "a new kind of dialogue that will 'talk to' the perspective of the Avenue." [...]
It would be great to see more cities cultivating regional identity through projects like this.
— Core 77
The elemental is always open to re-interpretation. View full entry
Associated with both wedding cakes and McMansions, the Spanish Colonial Revival movement that took hold of California's early 20th century architecture left behind many civic structures that have since become classically Californian. Mixing elements from the colonial Spanish missions, the... View full entry
Ready, Set, Hike! A Trial Trek to MetLife Stadium
The officials planning Super Bowl XLVIII want it to be the Super Bowl of public transportation. They are not just discouraging fans from walking to MetLife Stadium on game day in February — they are forbidding it.
— The New York Times
A reporter attempts to walk to MetLife Stadium. Most likely the reason one won't be allowed to walk into the Super Bowl is "terror"-related, but the article raises again the question of why our pedestrian environment is so degraded. Why have we allowed our cities to be built in such a way... View full entry
